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Man arrested after girlfriend killed in violent Jacksonville beating

Birch

A Jacksonville man has been arrested following the beating death of his girlfriend, whose children witnessed the attack and said the assailant was "slinging" their mother around.

Rolanda Michelle Harrell, 28, was found dead about 4 p.m. Wednesday at her apartment at 6457 Fort Caroline Road. Police said they were told she was slammed against the kitchen counters and stove. When rescue workers arrived, she was found slumped inside the kitchen door.

She was declared dead at the scene.

A neighbor heard a commotion and saw a man leaving the apartment, police said. The neighbor found Harrell unresponsive.

Harrell's children, two daughters aged 7 and 5, and a 2-year-old son, were in the apartment. The children are with an aunt, said homicide Lt. Rob Schoonover of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Kishon Larhame Birch, 32, who also lived in the Caroline Arms apartment, has been charged with murder. He came to police with his mother and was arrested, a police report said.

Birch and Harrell did not have any children together, police said.

Schoonover said Birch declined to talk to detectives about the case.

A dispute erupted in the apartment over Harrell accusing Birch of seeing another woman, police were told. They were told Harrell had suffered domestic abuse in violent attacks in the past.

Birch was found guilty of armed robbery in 2003 and cocaine possession in 2002, according to the Sheriff's Office. He was sentenced to six months in state prison and served four years and five months on the robbery charge, according to state records.